Palestinian woman after the destruction of a house during an Israeli incursion into Rafah (AFP)

By Mustafa el-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, November 16 (IslamOnline.net) – Israeli occupation troops Sunday, November 16, shot dead a Palestinian man and injured an eight-year-old boy during a new incursion into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, while four Israeli soldiers were wounded in an resistance operation that targeted an Israeli tank.

Accompanied by tens of armored vehicles, tanks and two Apache helicopters, Israeli troops besieged scores of Palestinian houses and imposed a curfew under the pretext of searching for wanted Palestinians.

Hassan Zeyad Abu Khatlah, 55, died after being shot in his chest while trying to stand up to the Israeli swoop.

Atef Abu Azra, 8, was also seriously injured when the occupation troops randomly at Palestinian houses.

Israeli troops, furthermore, forced the residents of Bassam Abu Libda's house to step out and shortly afterwards they dynamited the house into rubble.

Last month, Rafah was the scene of a deadly Israeli incursion lasting more than a week that sparked sharp criticism from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said that ambushed an Israeli foot patrol during the pre-dawn swoop, leaving a number of occupation troops.

"Seeking the help of God and believing in our right to defend our land and people against the barbaric Zionist raid, our fighters ambushed Israeli troops east of Rafah and opened fore in an Israeli foot patrol at precisely 4:17 on Sunday, November 16. The street was stained with the Israeli blood and our fighters returned to their bases safely," the brigades said in a statement, a copy of which was e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.

Teenager Killed

Elsewhere in the Palestinian territories, Israeli troops gunned down a 14-year-old boy near the northern West Bank town of Nablus.

Ahmad Marwan Hanani was fatally shot in the chest while he was heading with his father to perform Tarawih prayers.

Israeli military sources alleged that dozens of Palestinians attacked Israeli foot patrol by stones and incendiary bottles.

The latest deaths brings to 3,611 the number of people killed since the Palestinian Intifada broke out in September 2000, including 2,696 Palestinians and 849 Israelis, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) count.

Four Israelis Wounded

Meanwhile, four Israeli soldiers were wounded early Sunday when their tank hit a roadside explosive device in Rafah.

The Israeli radio, however, said that four soldiers were slightly injured when their patrol came under a Palestinian attack on the border line between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Witnesses told IOL that Palestinian gunmen attacked Israeli posts on the border line with semi-automatic machineguns and hand grenades.

"Al-Quds Brigades claim responsibility for wounding four Zionist soldiers in a explosion that targeted a tank for the Zionist enemy on the border line in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah," read the statement.

"The Brigades of the martyr Ahmad Hassan exploded a 50kg roadside bomb while the tank was traveling along the border line," it said, adding that the operation came in retaliation for the incessant Israeli attacks and expulsion of scores of Palestinian from the West Bank.